Away Daze…

Now and again when they’re feeling kind and sorry for me, my bosses at my place of employment send me on away days. Today was such a day. I was sent on an away day to Wakefield on a course, to gather information about a new employability qualification. The qualification is aimed at those people in our society who have little or no social skills and don’t have the common sense to work out that you don’t swear during job interviews and you certainly don’t attend an interview wearing a bloody track suit.

You may think that everyone knows how to behave during a job inetrview, but you’d be mistaken. Recently one of my young male learners had attended an interview at a factory where they make ladies underwear, primarily knickers, but also some other pieces of intimate apparel. During the part after the main interview where this young man was being shown around the factory by his male inetviewer, he was introduced to the factory floor where the majority of the existing employees were beavering, sorry, busily going about their business, my young man spotted a nice looking woman who was packing underwear into a box ready for shipment. He nodded to his interviewer and commented,

“She’s a bit of alright, I’d f*ck her.”

His interviewer, showing ultimate professionalism, didn’t comment and then quickly ended the interview and told my young man that he’d be in touch. Relaying this information to me later the interviewer added a piece of information that he hadn’t shared with the young man at the time of his comment. The young lady in question, was, yes, you guessed, his daughter!

But back to the reason for this post and the employability qualification, the training day, was ultimately boring, with a very dull and dryly delivered presentation, I had great difficulty in keeping my eyes open and my attention on the subject at hand, however, the venue was delightful.

Tucked snugly behind Wakefield Prison and the main railway line leading in and out of Wakefield, The Orangery was built in the 1790s by the Viscountess Galway, who lived in Barnsley, but visted Wakefield during the social season (how very genteel!). In 1839 The Orangery was opened as a horticultural and botanical garden and even had its own bear. It’s said that the bear eventually escaped after mauling its keepers wife.

The Orangery was then sold in 1850 to the Trustees of the nearby Westgate Chapel, the building was used continuously thereafter for a variety of educational and recreational purposes and part of the garden was used as an overspill to the chapel’s graveyard.

In 1991, it was sold again to a local developer and 5 years later received money from the Arts Council of England and the National Lottery and the place was then used as a base for “Public Arts” the regions foremost agency for the commisioning of art in public places.

It’s a pretty place and as the sun was shining today and I did have my camera, during our lunch break I nipped out into the gardens and took a few snaps. I have tried to be a little artistic, but I’m not too good.